Carvalho blasting Halsey to the liver with a kick (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

Bellator plans to expand its global reach in 2016, and the promotion has announced that it will hold events in London, Tel Aviv and Italy next year.

No dates for the planned events were disclosed in a press release sent out by Spike, Bellator’s broadcasting partner.

“We are thrilled to bring the incredible excitement of hard-hitting Bellator action featuring some of the best athletes in the world to our new global partners in the UK, Israel, and Italy,” said Bellator President Scott Coker. “The London event is especially encouraging as we will broadcast the main card in the UK on one of the country’s most-distributed broadcast channels, Channel 5.”

Bellator 147 will take place this Friday, November 20th, in Thackerville, Oklahoma. In the main event, Hisaki Kato will battle Melvin Manhoef.

The world’s largest kickboxing organization has reportedly lost an extremely significant television deal, as according to a report, Spike TV has elected to stop airing GLORY events.

GLORY reached a broadcasting deal with Spike back in 2013, and while some events drew decent ratings, more recently, several cards have not. GLORY 24 earlier this month pulled less than 300,000 viewers.

According to a report from MMA Fighting.com, Spike has confirmed with the outlet that it will no longer be broadcasting GLORY cards.

GLORY 25 is scheduled for November 6th and will take place in Milan, Italy.

New York, NY, August 19, 2014 – GLORY Sports International and its board of directors today appointed Jon J. Franklin as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. In this role, Franklin will oversee management… Read More

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Artem Levin (left) pursuing Joe Schilling (photo via GLORY)

By GLORY World Series (via press release)

New York, NY, August 19, 2014 – GLORY Sports International and its board of directors today appointed Jon J. Franklin as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. In this role, Franklin will oversee management of the world’s premier kickboxing league, with coverage in over 170 global territories.

Since 2002, Franklin has been President of The Sports and Entertainment Company (Sports-EntCo), a sports and entertainment marketing firm that assisted with production, programming, sponsorship, and logistics for GLORY events in the United States.

“I look forward to working with Jon in this new capacity. He has been a big part of our incredible success thus far and is uniquely suited to lead GLORY into the next phase of development,” said Pierre Andurand, GLORY Chairman and Co-Founder. “With Jon at the helm, we are confident that 2015 will be a banner year in the evolution of our brand as a leading combat sports league in the United States and abroad”.

Previously, Franklin spent 15 years in senior roles at IMG-Media and has also served as President of Golden Gloves Boxing LLC and AP-X, a division of America Presents Boxing.

“I’m honored to have been a part of GLORY’s growth into one of the top fight promotions worldwide, but the work is not done,” said Franklin. “I truly believe that we have the best athletes in the world, with production for both live audiences and home viewers that is second to none. As we move into the new year, I can’t wait to share GLORY’s global vision for kickboxing with our fans.”

Andrew Whitaker, who served as CEO previously, will assume an advisory role with GLORY as a consultant for business development.

GLORY also jointly announced with SPIKE TV that they have extended their agreement to provide original kickboxing programming through 2015, with a full fall schedule to be released in the coming weeks.

SPIKE TV is already the broadcast home for Bellator MMA, and now the network has announced that it’s signed a multiyear deal with kickboxing giant GLORY Sports International. According to a press release sent out today by… Read More

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Daniel Ghita (right) (photo via Ben Pontier / GLORY)

By FCF Staff

SPIKE TV is already the broadcast home for Bellator MMA, and now the network has announced that it’s signed a multiyear deal with kickboxing giant GLORY Sports International. According to a press release sent out today by the two companies, SPIKE will begin broadcasting two hour GLORY events this fall on Saturday nights.

No details were offered in terms of when the first GLORY card will air, or how many SPIKE will broadcast annually.

“We are thrilled to partner with GSI in bringing Spike TV’s audience the incredible action and intensity of GLORY’s fight league, which feature the best kickboxers in the world,” said Slusser. “Viewers will quickly see this as the perfect complement to our coverage of Bellator, the world’s leading tournament-based MMA promotion.”

“Spike has established itself as the home of combat sports in a way that is unique. Its audience will expect the most exciting ring action and we promise to deliver it,” said Whitaker. “Glory kickboxing is the next big thing and Spike clearly knows something about spotting aces in the sports programming space.”

It’s certainly big news for fight fans and GLORY, and marks the latest move the promotion has made to entrench itself as the world’s biggest kickboxing promotion. Just recently, on June 22nd, GLORY held an event in New York City, which saw striking star and WSOF fighter Tyrone Spong win a light-heavyweight tournament.

Other decorated kickboxers that are currently signed to GLORY include Daniel Ghita, Gokhan Saki, Remy Bonjasky, and Peter Aerts, among others.